The South by SouthWest (
SXSW) festival, which takes place in Austin Texas, is affectionately known as ‘South By’ and is a yearly collection of film, interactive media, innovative technology, music festivals and conferences. The inaugural festival was in 1987 and since then it has grown not only in size but also in prestige, as corporate sponsorship, big-name acts, innovative technology and hundreds of undiscovered bands, filmmakers, and tech innovators flocking there every year. Unfortunately, last year’s physical festival was cancelled last year due to the pandemic and went digital and online.
Luckily, as a representative of the Ireland’s Mid-West film industry, yours truly was able to get a ticket, courtesy of Film in Limerick and Innovate Limerick, for this year’s offerings. While I was disappointed not to be flying over to Texas itself, the remote festival was still a very exciting prospect!